Councils in England have recorded nearly £700million in profits from their parking operations this year, the highest numbers on record.
Research by the RAC Foundation has revealed that in 2014/2015 English councils recorded total combined profits of £693million from their day-to-day parking activities. That’s nearly £1.9million a day, and represents a four per cent increase from the previous year (£667m).
The rise in overall profits is said to come from increased income from parking operations such as tickets and fines, not cost cuts, suggesting motorists are paying record fees for parking privileges.
Motorists fork out the most in London, where the five biggest earning councils are all within the capital’s area codes. Accumulatively, London councils bring in over 40 per cent of the record high profits. Westminster tops the charts by claiming a whopping £46.4million surplus, £8million more than five years ago.
Yet not all local authorities recorded profits in 2014/2015. Of the 353 councils, the research found 57 authorities reported a deficit in their numbers. For example, Cambridgeshire recorded a loss of £279,000 from their day-to-day parking operations for the financial year.
Each year local authorities are asked by the Government to provide an estimate of their expected profit and loss for the end of the financial year. The current estimates suggest the overall surplus in England in 2015/2016 will be £687million – or down by £6million from this year.
Local authorities have since spoken against the research, stating that while they make profits from their parking operations, a lot of the profit is eventually invested back into council operations that improve overall welfare.
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation said: “The financial sums involved in local authority parking are huge and the overall profits eye-watering. And once again the year-on-year direction of travel is upwards.
“When a parking profit is made the law states that, essentially, the money can only be spent on transport and environment projects. We are simply asking that all councils publish annual reports to tell drivers exactly where this huge excess ends up.”
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